母亲的智慧

周建

母亲在孩子的成长中扮演着重要的角色。她似乎总是能在孩子陷入困境时，想出一个又一个办法，帮助孩子渡过难关……

难词探意

1. sheepishly /??i?p??li/ adv. 不好意思地;羞怯地

2. jelly /?d?eli/ n. 果酱

3. exotic /?ɡ?z?t?k/ adj. 异国风味的;奇异的

4. spinach /?sp?n?t?/ n. 菠菜

5. snarky /?snɑ?ki/ adj. 尖锐批评的

My older brother， older sister， and I were in grade school. One day I came home， feeling frustrated. I sheepishly asked my mom to no longer put Middle Eastern food in my lunch.

She and my father became quiet. My mother， through questioning， got me to reveal that the other students gave me a very difficult time when I pulled out food that didnt look like everybody elses. So I asked， “From now on， could we do peanut butter and jelly on Wonder Bread and an apple？”

And then my brother and sister piped in and said theyd like the same because they were going through it as well. There were no African Americans in my school and there were no Asians. I dont think there was anybody from India or Latin America. It was primarily a homogenous community. In the midst of that， our family was slightly exotic. My father was from Syria and my mom was from Palestine. We had looks that were different; we had food that was different， and we had holiday customs that were not the same as everybody elses. Sometimes we could stick out.

My mother didnt say too much when I brought up the lunch issue. But about a week later the teacher announced that we were going to have some sort of a special food event. The next day at lunch， unbeknownst to me， in came my mother with boxes and trays of Middle Eastern food. The teacher introduced her. “This is Mrs Nimen. This is Toms mom.” She pulled out the food. She started serving the kids kibbeh. “Try this，” she said. “Heres some fataya—these are little bread pies and they have meat in them， or spinach， pine nuts and onions.” She had baked bread for the entire class to take home.

Let me tell you about my mother： She was an artist. She dressed like an artist; she spoke like an artist; she had the attitude of an artist. She was charming and funny. And most importantly， she was full of wisdom. A week earlier these snarky kids who made fun of everything that I was eating are now enjoying my moms food！

[Reading][Check]

1. What made the author go through a difficult time at school？

A. The authors food. B. The authors nature.

C. The authors clothes. D. The authors behavior.

2. What does the underlined phrase “stick out” in paragraph 3 mean？

A. Stay patient. B. Stand out.

C. Feel embarrassed. D. Pay out.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph？

A. The author preferred artists much.

B. Artists make life more meaningful.

C. Wisdom is the most important in life.

D. The food from the authors mother was tasty.

4. Which of the following can best describe the authors mother？

A. Knowledgeable. B. Particular.

C. Sensible. D. Selfless.

[Language][Study]

Difficult sentence

My mother， through questioning， got me to reveal that the other students gave me a very difficult time when I pulled out food that didnt look like everybody elses.

【點石成金】该句中My mother为主语，got为主句谓语动词，that引导一个宾语从句，when引导一个时间状语从句。